Performance of the nile tilapia with varying daily feeding amounts, using a commercial diet

Abstract

In order to evaluate the performance of Nile tilapia (Oreochromis niloticus), daily feeding amounts were varied in an experiment following a completely randomized design for 154 days and consisting of four treatments with three replications each, totaling 12 tanks with 3 m³ (3 x 1 x 1 m) of area each at densities of 5 fish m^-3 (initial) and 3 fish m^-3 until the end of the experiment. Throughout the experimental period, the daily amount of feed was varied and delimited for each feeding time (8h00, 11h00, 14h00 and 17h00) as: 25; 25; 25 and 25% in daily treatment 1 - T1; 20; 30; 30 and 20% in treatment 2 - T2; 30; 20; 20 and 30% in daily treatment 3 - T3; and 20; 30; 20 and 30% in treatment 4 - T4. Feed was offered six days a week, with extruded isocaloric (1,412 KJ) and isoproteic (32% crude protein) diets from 2 to 4 mm. Every two weeks, a sample containing 30% of stocked individuals was collected in each replication to monitor fish growth. Nile tilapia (O. niloticus) fed in daily amounts of 20; 30; 20 and 30% showed a better growth performance in the final of experiment, mainly on biomass, final average weight and feed conversion.